After the Florida primary, John McCain is the clear front-runner in the Republican primaries, the first we've had since Rudy Giuliani vacated the role.

Underscoring his victory is a fascinating fact newly evident, now that we have had a Republican primary in a state which did not permit Independents to participate: The GOP primary electorate isn't very conservative.

Asked how they'd characterize their own ideology, only 27 percent of Florida GOP voters said they were "very conservative." They backed Mitt Romney by 44 percent to 20 percent. Another 34 percent said they were "somewhat conservative," and they broke even between Romney and McCain 33-32.

A further 38 percent said they were "moderate" or "liberal" - and they backed McCain by 44-22.

So it is not so much that McCain converted conservatives, but that Romney ran out of them - there weren't enough of them to give him the Florida delegation.

Being the front-runner in the Republican primary is no small matter. The GOP believes in following the leader. The absence of a designated heir-apparent has been evident throughout the party's 2008 contest. Now that McCain is the front-runner, the legitimist voters in the primary will likely move toward him. Giuliani's expected endorsement of McCain will only exemplify this trend and hasten it along.

McCain comes out of Florida as the putative nominee in the eyes of Republicans - and it is up to Romney to take it away from him. Continued...